Already mentioned in the comment above, he's not injured anymore. Will be back at the end of January. I think the deal will take place in summer, with us perhaps signing a pre contract agreement now.
You can only sign a pre-contract if he is in the last 6 months of the previous deal, and he isn't.
yes, I'm sure that can happen. If Bayern are interested, I'm not sure why he would want to limit his options. Also depends whether Schalke are willing to sell? If not, it becomes tapping up.